


Serein

by Niimarie



Series: Science and Magic [2]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Friendship, Grief/Mourning, Nightmares, Post-Battle of Sokovia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-17
Updated: 2016-05-17
Packaged: 2018-06-08 22:29:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,230
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6876508
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Niimarie/pseuds/Niimarie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>n. the fine, light rain that falls from a clear sky at sunset or in the early hours of night; evening serenity.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Serein

Wanda could feel stray hairs sticking to her neck. Sweat had fixed them there, sweat that had long dried out and left her with an icky feeling all over. The once pristine sheets were entangled with her bare legs in a damp heap, but she had made no move to free herself and spread them anew.

She couldn’t tell how long she’d been laying like that, staring up at the ceiling with her hands clutching the sheets to her chin. The room was still dark.

Again. Every night she’d woken staring into the darkness of her bedroom, the same faces seemingly staring back. Pale yellowish skin, blind eyes devoid of iris and pupil.

Wanda stood up and with soft steps made for the door. For a second she considered putting something over her tank top and shorts but decided against it. Who would be up at such an hour besides her anyway?

The new base was much more compact than the tower, but no less intimidating. It was a microcosm in itself somehow, isolated from the outside world and catering to every need a person could possibly have. Wanda had yet to explore the entire compound, but she was grateful for the change in location – Manhattan was not a place she cared to visit again anytime soon _._

Something hot to drink, that might help her relax. The kitchen and adjoining lounge would give her some space to clear her mind.

Turning on the light switch she froze. The back of a crimson head sprung into her view, turning now at the sound of her arrival to reveal a pair of concerned eyes.

‘I didn’t think anyone else would be up.’ Wanda felt her teeth gnawing on the inside of her cheek. She’d forgotten about him. Of course Vision would be awake.

‘I was listening to the rain.’ He rose from his position at the bar, crimson skin forming a frown. ‘Miss Maximoff, are you unwell?’

_What a question!_ Her incisors worried her lips until she could feel them go numb. No, she was fine. Excellent, in fact. She would have said that out loud if it was anyone else standing there. They all felt guilty around her.

The concern in his eyes didn’t fade.

Different, unaccompanied by the usual patronizing undertones she found in everyone else. Simple, undisguised concern. How could he still be so unguarded?

Needing to break from his scrutiny, Wanda turned to one of the cupboards. Only then did she hear the faint drum of rain against the window panels, a soft drizzle before dawn. ‘What time is it?’

‘Five seventeen in the morning.’

She filled the water cooker and turned it on. Perfect. No point in going back to bed then, unless Steve allowed them an eight o’clock start instead of the usual seven a.m.

Back then it had rained too, on the evening after Mama and Papa's funeral. The rain had brought cold with it, the kind that crept into your bones no matter how many layers of clothes you put on. They’d spent the evening curled up on one of the couches in their old living room, silent as the shadows had grown longer. Counting the hours until someone would come to drag them into a new life. Orphans. Nobody cared for orphans. Neither of them cried that evening. How easy it had been, pretending that nothing had changed and that nothing ever would.

‘You haven’t been able to rest.’

She flinched, scarlet threads catching the cup before it could shatter on the floor. ‘Not your business, is it?’ It came out as a hiss, but of course he heard her just as well. Wanda instantly regretted it.

They weren’t close. Not beyond training as team members. True, he had saved her life. What good was that to her? She hadn’t needed saving, hadn’t wanted it.

She didn’t see his expression crumble ever so slightly, didn’t see his gaze finally fall to the ground. ‘I apologize-‘

‘I’m sorry I lashed out at you.’ Wanda let the words hang between them until she found a way to continue. ‘I didn’t sleep very well.’

Way to go.

‘I understand humans find it beneficial to talk about unpleasant things. I’m afraid I do not have any experience with nightmares, but perhaps I can be of some assistance.’

Talk about what? The three faces that haunted her night after night ever since the Avengers had returned from Sokovia?

Her parents she could cope with. She’d seen them so much in her dreams Wanda doubted she could actually remember them the way they were. Time had blurred the lines and put a nice pink filter over some memories.

Her twin shouldn’t be standing next to them. Pietro was supposed to be with her, softly snoring in his own room inside the new Avengers headquarters, ready to jump if she as much as called his name. Like he’d done all their lives, long before either of them had gotten their powers.

‘Not all humans are the same.’ The subtle bite in her tone bothered her. He was the last person who deserved her blows, but she really didn’t have the energy to deal with anyone now. She reached out for the tea box, rising to her toes and still not getting any closer to grazing it with her fingers. Who had put it up there?

Within an instant Vision was there, his taller form having no problem reaching it. Wanda tried to ignore the heat of his body so close to hers. Without thought she looked up, craning her neck just enough so she could meet his eyes. No hidden secrets, no desire to prove his sense of honor by pretending to care.

‘You can trust me, Miss Maximoff. Look for yourself if you don’t believe me.’

She’d give anything to know what he was thinking in that moment. It would take less than a second. But she remembered the last time she’d let her mind dive into Vision’s, before Sokovia. No matter how hard she tried she couldn’t forget what it had felt like.

But he offered. So she let herself in, far more careful than necessary. He’d changed since his birth. There was still that infant’s innocence she’d encountered last time, still that profound wish to do good. Colors and smells went through receptors more advanced than a human’s, but there was always that sense of novelty - a new shade of brown he noticed in her hair or the faint note of cinnamon beckoning from the box.

Despite that it wasn’t the same mind she remembered. There was something different, perhaps a remnant of their fight in her home town or something that came with following the world’s news about hunger and conflict.

She could have gone through everything – every thought, every memory. He offered it all, no walls to hinder her. He trusted her enough not to take advantage.

He trusted her.

The water had begun to boil. Wanda retreated both mentally and physically. Taking out a bag of instant chai and filling up her cup, she went to sit at the bar.

Stop being a bitch. Somehow she managed to shoot him a smile. ‘Care to join me?’ It was the least she owed him.

His perfect teeth flashed in a smile of his own. ‘It would be my pleasure, Miss Maximoff.’

‘Call me Wanda.’


End file.
